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MEDFORD — Gift-basket powerhouse Harry and David earned a record $115.4 million during the second quarter of the 2007 fiscal year. Oft-delayed plans to take the company public with an IPO have been put off again until June at the earliest, according to company executives. Harry and David employs about 1,300 people year-round but depending on the season the number of employees can swell to around 10,000, making the company the largest employer in Southern Oregon. Harry and David owns about 130 stores throughout the country.

MEDFORD — For 15 years the eight-person staff at the Southern Oregon Women’s Access to Credit (SOWAC) helped new and existing business owners establish their companies. About 700 people per year came through the center’s doors before it was forced to close in mid-February along with the Medford and Grants Pass offices due to a lack of funding. David Tally, an instructor and consultant with SOWAC, says that as the center’s funding decreased after the 2005 death of executive director Helen Wallace, former trainers and consultants began to form a consortium to offer the same types of services as SOWAC. The consortium, The Business Center at Tally Media Group, will function like a Rolodex, using the pool of consultants who worked with SOWAC to assist small businesses with a specific problem.